You can always count on Robyn Harding to deliver a darkly satisfying thriller with fantastic characters! I loved 'The Arrangement' and her newest book is just as enticing and taboo. Here. the author tackles the subject of partner-swapping (among other topics) and crafted an unputdownable thriller! If you find yourself with a relatively short attention span these days, I can guarantee you that Robyn Harding's thrillers will satisfy your reading cravings.

Told from multiple perspectives, we first meet the shy and introverted Low, a moody teenager who is desperate to escape her small Pacific Northwest town and her very unusual family dynamic. She meets the beautiful Freya, a vivacious and captivating artist who offers pottery classes to Low. Soon, their relationship takes an unhealthy turn. Freya is not all that she seems to be, but both Low and Jamie, the owner of a small gift shop in town, become practically obsessed with her. With Freya, Low finally feels like she has found acceptance and understanding.

“At home, I was an afterthought. At school, I was a pariah. At Freya’s studio, I was everything. Freya was a best friend, a parent, and a crush all wrapped up in one worldly, glamorous package. Later, people would say I was obsessed with her, but I wasn’t. With Freya, I was home.”

Jamie and her husband Brian soon become very friendly with both Freya and her handsome athlete husband Max, a former hockey player. Max and Freya had moved to the isolated island town to escape public scrutiny after a tragic incident and subsequent litigation. How will the lives of Jamie, Brian, Freya, Max and Low all intersect? The author builds the tension at a rapid pace and never lets up.

Everyone has secrets and Freya preys on them. Some of the reviews give away too much about the plot, so just go into this one blind. I had not read any reviews or even the summary before I started reading and I LOVED the shocking twists and turns in the story!

'The Swap' is a very fast-paced thriller with a touch of very dark elements and unforgettable characters. The ending was a total surprise and fit the story perfectly. Happy reading!

When seeing the cover of Harding’s latest release The Swap, readers will assume they know the storyline of the book. A marriage swap gone terribly wrong. Those readers would be correct, but there is much more to this story.

The story has a wildcard in the form of a lonely teenager named Low Morrison. How does a teenager fit into a story about a marriage swap? Isolation draws Low to one of the couples. She has a family but they are absorbed in their own lives leaving little time for Low. Longing to connect with someone she signs up for a pottery class taught by a beautiful new arrival, Freya. This chance meeting sets off a course full of obsession and betrayal.

Toxic relationships are the main characters in The Swap. The amount of manipulation and mental games featured in the characters is wonderfully wicked. That may seem odd but it is the most accurate description. However, I struggled to like any of the characters. The most I could muster was sympathy for some of them, but it faded as I continued to read. Although I disliked all the characters, their richly developed backstories made them interesting and complex.

Readers on the hunt for a summer time binge read should look no further than The Swap. The story is filled with beautiful people behaving badly and loads of deception. Fast paced and binge worthy, readers will race to finish to find out how this twisted tale ends.

Murder and Moore Rating:
4 out of 5 Stars

There are some crazy people in this book!
I wasn’t a big fan of all the different points of views from the Characters.

Freya was evil and Low was very naive in her way of thinking sometimes.

This thriller was not really my cup of tea. This is my first book by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed emotions on this book. Lots of changing who is telling the story, which can get confusing if you don't realize you are in a new chapter. Semi-interesting story concept, but for me having someone that self-centered that everyone would just fall for, doesn't sound interesting. I've never read anything by this author before so I don't know if all her books are like this, but as I read this book it was with astonishment with the craziness of the characters. I'll have to try another one of her books to see if it was just this story or if it's just the way the author writes.

This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Robyn Harding, Gallery Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

This was a good thriller, with decent characters. I felt like the story had too many POVs. I would've rather had the story being told from just Low's POV, or even Low's and Freya's.

A good fast paced read, perfect for quarantine reading.

4.5 stars for a great story.
Obsessive love is not love, but it is a lesson many of these characters don't see. Freya is new in town, but she has a captivating personality and both Low and Jaime choose to follow. We all know three is not a good number for friendship, don't we? Freya and Jaime add their husbands to the mix, along with some 'shrooms, for a life altering evening; an understatement to say the least.
Loved it and love finding a new favorite author!
Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

The Swap is a psychological thriller about obsession, desire, and crazies. While slightly predictable, is an enjoyable read.

This story was interesting as it was not only mystery/suspense and secrets,but it gave another very different element of people living in a polygamous lifestyle. I thought that it was a very creative new twist that is not something that we read much about in books outside of erotic romance books. Even at that, it not usually married people bringing in other couples as a lifestyle choice as it was in this book.
Although it was an interesting wrinkle in the story I felt that trying to wrap my head around that lifestyle held me back on truly enjoying all that the story has to offer. I did enjoy the secrets and how they built and built as one secret or lie always snowballs into more, but I think that the story was just lacking that big moment of wow for me that I typically look for in mysteries/suspense novels.
I think that some more details, more developing of the characters and story was needed to fully immerse me in the story and make me feel fully invested. The book was good, I just felt like the author needs to dig a little deeper to help the reader feel that they are truly invested in the characters and their story.

Another winner from Robyn Harding. I was a fan of The Arrangement last year so I couldn’t wait to dive into this one. Provides a lot of entertainment and keeps you guessing all throughout. Fantastic read!

I don't know how to even start this review. I went back and forth reading this and throwing my iPad across the room. Freya - God, I don't even know. I am entirely ill-equipped to write my feelings down about this at the moment.
My suggestion is to buy it. Maybe read it in chunks because too much at once .you'll pull your hair out.

Wow! What a twisty rollercoaster ride of a book. I'll admit that I spent a large portion of this book just trying to figure out what was so darn special about Freya, but whatever it was, it worked because these characters were definitely drinking the Koolaid. This is a story of obsession, and nobody does obsession like a teenager, most especially this teenager. Honestly, I could go on and on about all the ways this one disturbed me, all the ways Robyn Harding showed just how talented she is, all the ways the twists just kept coming. But I won't because that would give spoilers and this is one that should be read spoiler free. This is everything an edge of your seat thriller should be and then some.

*3.5 Stars*

When Low sees an advertisement for a new pottery class in her small town, she jumps at the chance to try something new. She quickly becomes enamored with her instructor, Frey, and her seemingly perfect and extravagant lifestyle. Adoration turns into an unhealthy obsession and soon, Low finds herself in the middle of some very dark and disturbing secrets...

WHAT DID I JUST READ?!?! I’ve been so conflicted about how to rate this one because on the one hand, I LOVED how fast-paced it was. Robyn Harding had me hooked from page one and turning pages as fast as I could. But on the other hand, I couldn’t stand any of the characters and was completely appalled at their actions. There were also a couple of things about the ending that didn’t work for me, which is what held me back from four stars. This was definitely one dark and twisted book. I’d say reminiscent of books like Verity and The Last Mrs. Parrish..so if that’s your thing, you will love this one!

This books was so good- full of juicy drama, deceit, husband swapping! Such a good, quick read. You will not be disappointed.

The Swap is an emotionally immersive story that draws three very distinctive female characters who allow avaricious choices to create a toxic set of relationships. A story that is fascinating and keenly observed, as we wonder what emotional control is possible when relationships become unhinged.

Freya was an Instagram influencer with a huge following, bestowing on her a sense of devotion and importance. Freya is married to Max who was a hockey player until during a match he inadvertently killed a fellow player following a crunching tackle. With their careers over and the hatred targeted at both Max and Freya, they watched their glamourous lives disappear and they moved to an island in the Pacific North-West to start anew.

Swallow (Low) is a teenager feeling extremely isolated and living with polyamorous parents, and brothers, that she feels disconnected with. Low signs up for pottery classes with Freya as her only student and they develop a mutual appetite for each other’s company.

“At home, I was an afterthought. At school, I was a pariah. At Freya’s studio, I was everything. Freya was a best friend, a parent, and a crush all wrapped up in one worldly, glamorous package. Later, people would say I was obsessed with her, but I wasn’t. With Freya, I was home.”

Freya is beautiful, hip, confident, while Low is tall, gangly, awkward and not very pretty. As the story develops, Robyn Harding shows how attitudes and situations are changeable and narcissistic characteristics start to dominate.

Jamie and her husband Brian moved to the quiet island area to give Brian an opportunity to focus on completing his new book. For Jamie, it may also provide a relaxed atmosphere that could enable her to become pregnant, something she so desperately seeks. Jamie opens a gift shop and builds a friendship with Freya when selling her pottery pieces. The exclusive relationship between Low and Freya suddenly gets side-lined and Low gradually feels more and more neglected. The foursome of Jamie, Freya and their husbands form a comfortable adult balance with Low removed. On a fun evening, with shrooms and alcohol, the foursome considers the possibility of couple swapping. The ramifications of which are played out in front of a hurt and unwanted teenager, spying from outside the house.

A wonderful play on friendships and relationships is explored with intriguing dynamics that don’t always plot a linear course. What really strikes home are the fragile needs of acceptance, personal attention and exclusivity to make their lives replete if that was ever possible. The unique disposition with each female character is wonderfully developed through desire, envy, obsession, guilt, and loneliness, as each experiences something missing in their lives and then is tantalisingly dangled in front of them. Each of the five characters possesses their own voice in the narration of the novel and the transition from one to the other is cleverly used, especially when shocking revelations are triggered. The deceit and lies become more toxic and the once harmonious lives become fractured.

I highly recommend this book and I would like to thank Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in return for an honest review.

I loved this book! It was so twisty and kept me on my toes - I did not see the ending coming. The friendships between the three main women are toxic to say the least. I didn’t like any of them, and yet I wanted to understand them. Besides the main plot, I thought that Low’s polyamorous family structure was really interesting to include because it’s not one we see in books very often. Definitely recommend if you enjoy women-central psychological thrillers with some serious gaslighting.

Interesting...The Swap by Robyn Harding was just that. Ms. Harding is a new author for me. Her book was not only interesting, it was very entertaining. It definitely was not a boring book for me.

It wasn't one of those books that kept you on the edge of your seat and that is ok. They don't all have to be that way. This one is more laid back.

The characters are pretty varied and just like in real life, you wouldn't expect them to be friends. One of the characters was an internet influencer who became friends with and 18 year old high school senior to whom she taught pottery. She also became friends with a woman who owned a store in town. She never seemed to be able to have more than one friend at a time and was a user of people. Things get pretty messed up in this book. There is a lot of back story on all of the characters which explains why they are involved with each other. That was satisfying for those who want to know!

The book has subjects that aren't really familiar to me but, I am open minded enough to go along for the ride and enjoy a story that is different. I would recommend this book to my friends. It would make for a lively discussion.

I received this book from the publisher for a fair and honest review.

Wow! I feel so many things about this book.

This was my first read from Robyn Harding and I am very eager to read more from her. I am having a hard time processing the precipice of feelings I have for this read. How wonderful that Harding could have me so engaged in a story about a group of people, of which I despise every one of them.

We have five main characters here in this little island world. Low, a lonely teen finding comfort in the wrong kind of people. We have Jamie and her husband Brian, who move to the island to start over after one too many blows in the inability to conceive department. We have Max, an shamed and shunned ex hockey player with a violent past. And then we have his wife, Freya, the core of the group; the one that everyone revolves around like her own sick little gallery. As I said, I didn't like any of the characters. They all seemed to me like the worst versions of themselves. There were moments interspersed when I either understood their motives or their actions pertaining to a certain event, but as a whole, these people were the worst, with Freya being the ABSOLUTE worst.

But, with not connecting to any of these individuals, I thoroughly enjoyed the story! This was all based in lies and manipulations. Each person was either doing something untoward to another for the sake of their own happiness, or blindly ignoring certain things others were doing in order to hold onto something for themsleves, whether or not it was a toxicity to themselves. So frustrating, but something I couldn't put down!

“Even if I had known how it would all end, I wouldn’t have walked away.”
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Y’all this book had me hooked from the beginning. I LOVE a good fast-paced read! The chapters were short, and it was suspenseful enough that I just kept busting through it in 2 days! I liked how the point of view centered mostly around Low, one of the main characters, but also switched around between the 4 other characters that made up the 2 couples. It definitely wrapped up pretty fast, but I didn’t expect the ending (always a good thing)!

Read if you enjoy
💍Various points of view
💍Fast-paced mystery
💍Short chapters!
💍Major dysfunctional relationships
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Synopsis: Low is a bit of an outsider at school, at home, and in life. She ends up taking pottery lessons from the mysterious and exquisite Freya, and becomes entranced with her. Meanwhile, Freya has befriended newcomer Jaime, and one night suggests Jaime and her husband come over for an “adventurous” evening with her husband, Max. These adventures include swapping partners, and it all goes downhill from there. Factor in Low’s rising jealousy of having to share Freya with someone else, newly-formed tensions between the couples, and we have one dramatic story on our hands.

The Swap is a page turning surprise. A cast of characters driven by guilt, loneliness, inadequacy, and desire. All drawn to the resplendent and manipulative Freya. She is as polarizing as she is unrepentant. I found the story fast paced and interesting. The depth of Low and Max’s characters surprised me. While Freya often tried to steal my attention, I found myself drawn to the sadness of Max and the complexities of Low.

The Swap is an excellent beach read. I devoured it in one sitting. Highly recommend.

The use of multiple narrations of this story combined with the use of some unreliable narrators makes for a thrill ride of highs and lows that kept me up way past my bedtime. I like the choice the author made using unusual character names that lent to the picture of the character in my mind. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers!